Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Hey, where you taking off to in such a hurry?” Belle asks me when I pass her on the stairs leading down to the foyer. She’s holding a glass of milk and a plate of cookies.
I don’t have time to explain.
Or any idea of what to explain, considering I don’t know what is going on.
“I’ll explain later,” I say.
“If it’s Ella you’re after, I saw her leave earlier.”
That stops me.
“You saw her?”
“Yeah, she caught a cab. I was up with Lucy because she’s teething and saw Ella climbing into a cab at the end of the driveway.”
She left.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” I give Belle a fleeting kiss before continuing down the stairs and down to the parking garage where my bike is. Sliding onto the beast, I kick up the stand and take off into the night, roaring through the darkness toward the Blue Lagoon Motel.
CHAPTER 53
Ella
I wither under Viktor’s cold glare.
“I missed the bus,” I lie, trying desperately to sound like I am telling the truth.
He comes closer, and I see the murder in his cold blue eyes.
But he doesn’t say anything. Just walks past me to the door.
“I can smell him on you,” he says, his tone low and dangerous.
I swallow hard and watch as he closes the door.
He knows.
He turns back to face me.
My knees go weak with fear.
Oh God, he’s going to kill me.
CHAPTER 54
Lars
The sky is rumbling with an approaching storm when I pull into the motel parking lot, my heart racing, my blood roaring in my ears.
Something isn’t right.
The door to Ella’s room is open, and there’s a man inside.
The same man I saw driving the bronze-colored Cadillac through the motel parking lot the night I followed her home. And who passed me in the street the day of Sticky and Dani’s wedding when Beast sent Bear and me to check out the Olicheckoff compound.
This man has been following her.
Why. The. Fuck. Has. He. Been. Following. Her?
I storm over to him and push him up against the wall.
“Who the fuck are you and why are you following Ella?”
“You don’t want to do this, son. We’re on the same team.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Who are you, old man?”
“My name is Santo Elordi. I was capo to Angelo Moretti… Ella’s father.”
My grip on him loosens.
“What are you talking about? Ella isn’t a Moretti. Her last name is Antonio.”
“No, son, it isn’t. That was a lie fabricated to keep her identity a secret. Ella is Eleanor Moretti. Daughter of Angelo Moretti.”
Angelo Moretti. Mob boss. He’s her father?
“Ella is a Moretti?”
What he says doesn’t make sense.
Why would Angelo Moretti’s daughter accept my invitation to work at the clubhouse?
“Yes, and she is in grave danger.”
My grip on his collar tightens again. “What do you mean danger?”
“The Russians have got her.”
“What Russians?” But I already know who. “The Olicheckoff?”
“Yes, her brother has promised her to Viktor Olicheckoff for marriage.”
What.
The.
Fuck?
I let go of his collar.
I can’t see through the rage in my head.
“You better take a seat and tell me what the fuck is going on.”
CHAPTER 55
Ella
The car ride back to the mansion feels like it’s taking forever.
Viktor rides in the front, while I sit in the back with one of his thugs. But I can feel his eyes on me in the rearview mirror as I stare out the tinted window.
I can still feel the sting of his slap on my face. But I don’t dare touch it. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
The car stops at a set of lights. If this were a movie, this is when I would make a break for it. But we’re in an armored car with state-of-the-art security and bulletproof windows. There is no escape for me.
I have no choice but to sit and wait as I drive toward my fate.
“You disappoint me.” Viktor’s thick accent breaks into the silence. “I had heard about you. The daughter of Angelo Moretti. As beautiful as she was smart. Set to follow in her father’s footsteps to rule the Moretti empire.”
That gets my attention.
I turn my face to look at him.
At my father’s funeral, Santo had told me my father had chosen me as his successor. A choice Santo fully supported.
“And if he’d lived to tell them, mia cara, so would the rest of the family,” Santo had said.
But he had yet to announce it before he died.
And in the end, Luca forced everyone to either follow him or die.
Then how does Viktor know I was to succeed my father?
Because he’s been working Luca from the very beginning.
Luca should probably watch his back.
Because I get the feeling Viktor is going to put a knife in it.
“Luca is the heir,” I remind Viktor, choosing my words carefully.
But Viktor only chuckles. As if we both know it is a joke.
“A man is a leader, or he isn’t. While some men are just too easy to play.”